A Passionate Proposal

Cort sat in the overstuffed chair, and Tracy placed Josh in his arms, being extra careful not to touch Cort’s bare skin during the transfer. Cort nudged the nipple against Josh’s lips, but the baby refused. “Come on, buddy. Fill your tank.”

Josh wailed. Both males were as tense as a newly strung clothesline. She touched a hand to her temples and looked skyward. Why me? Is this some kind of test? She blew out a long, slow breath.

“Relax, Cort, or he won’t either.” Knowing she’d probably regret it, she stepped behind the chair and kneaded Cort’s knotted shoulder muscles. The heat from his supple skin traveled from her fingertips to her breasts and thighs. Cort’s tension ebbed from him to her, swirling in the pit of her stomach and coiling around her chest. She almost groaned aloud when she identified the cause. Desire.

Obviously, she’d never gotten over her crush on Cort Lander, except now she had the adult, X-rated version dancing through her mind and shortening her breath.

As Cort’s muscles unwound, so did Josh’s. After one last whimper, the baby hungrily latched on to the bottle.

Cort exhaled. “Can’t say I blame you, kid. After the last hour I could use a drink myself.”

Tracy dropped her hands to her sides, wiping them on her gown as if she could erase the feel of him from her memory. She had no need for inhibition-relaxing alcohol. Her senses were already spinning out of control.

She wanted the impossible. She wanted Cort Lander. “Don’t forget to burp him.”

She let herself out of the apartment before she did something foolish.

Who’d have expected practical, down-to-earth Tracy to have magical fingers or hair as soft as satin sheets?

Cort smothered a yawn and blinked his tired, gritty eyes. He’d kept an erection for hours after she’d left last night, and consequently, he’d hit the snooze button on his alarm clock one time too many this morning.

“Okay, kid, let’s try this again.” He tucked a spoonful of baby mush between Josh’s lips. Josh promptly sprayed it all over him. Aw, hell. He’d have to change shirts, which meant he’d probably be late for his first day on the job.

“Can’t say I blame you. This stuff looks and smells like casting plaster.”

A tap on the inside door meant the cavalry had arrived. Remnants of last night’s dreams jolted his libido and heart into overdrive. “Come in.”

Tracy stepped over the threshold looking good enough to eat in jeans that hugged her hips and a peachy-colored top that reflected the blush on her freshly scrubbed cheeks. The thick braid of her cinnamon hair fell over her shoulder to loop around the tip of her breast like a lover’s tongue. Oh, man. He clenched his teeth on a groan.

Tracy took one look at the situation and shook her head. “I have Cheerios downstairs.”

Before he could say another word she vanished and his heart sank, but she reappeared seconds later and deposited an armload of stuff on the table. He could have kissed her for coming back. He was definitely out of his element here, but he wasn’t sure about the yellow box of cereal and the banana. “The book didn’t say anything about regular food.”

“Would you trust me on this one?” Her white teeth dug into her lush bottom lip, and he figured he’d probably agree to just about anything if she kept that up. Scraping a hand across his chin, he nodded. She had to know more about babies than he did, and he’d always been able to count on Tracy steering him in the right direction.

She set a bottle of stain remover on his side of the table and then scattered a few cereal rings on the high chair tray. Josh snatched them up, shoving them into his mouth as fast as a linebacker at a buffet. He greeted the banana with the same enthusiasm.

Tracy’s gaze traveled over him. “You’d better change and get out of here.”

“You’re right. Thanks for helping.” He stood and peeled off his shirt. Tracy inhaled swiftly. He hesitated. Did she feel the same fierce attraction that twisted his hormones into a pretzel? Or had he offended her? He started to shrug the shirt back on.

Her eyes were big and round and her cheeks bore a fresh wash of color. “It’s okay. I’ve seen a man without his shirt before. I’ve seen you without your shirt before.”

She’d seen him without more than his shirt that time she’d surprised him at the river. Did she remember? “So you have.”

Her gaze drizzled over him like melting caramel. Did she have any idea what a look like that did to a man? If he stood here long enough there’d be no doubt. He moved away from the table.

“Wait.” Tracy moved forward and reached for him. Every muscle in his body locked. She picked bits of cereal from his hair, his ear, his eyebrow, and her featherlight touches nearly drove him out of his mind.

He clamped his lips closed and tried to breathe normally. Her scent filled his senses. She stood so close that all he had to do was lift his hands a few inches to span her waist. But he wouldn’t. Casual friend-to-friend kisses and touches were one thing, but that wasn’t what he wanted right now. Need charged through his body like a pack of hungry dogs. Need that would go unfulfilled. He clenched his fists.

Her gaze met his and her smile slowly faded. She lowered her hands, wet her lips and glanced back toward Josh. Her throat worked as she swallowed once, twice, and a dark flush swept her cheekbones. There was no mistaking the sexual tension clogging the air.

She cleared her throat and busied herself with cleaning up his breakfast dishes. “Tomorrow, I’ll handle breakfast.”

The last thing he wanted was to ruin their friendship.

“Thanks.” His voice sounded as though he’d swallowed a handful of gravel. He beat a hasty retreat, eager, he was ashamed to admit, to get out of the house before he did something stupid like kiss her until they ended up naked and horizontal.

What he needed was a good dose of something that didn’t make him feel like a failure. Work. He had an exemplary bedside manner, and his diagnostic skills were superb, or so his instructors back at Duke had told him.

Obviously, Josh didn’t see the same qualities.

Cort shrugged on a clean shirt and tie. He’d never shirked hard work, but usually his diligence produced visible results. No such luck with Josh. The harder he tried, the worse the situation seemed to get with his son. The baby books were a prime example. He’d practically memorized the parenting books he’d found on Kate’s shelves only to have Tracy tell him to ignore them and follow his gut instinct.

Not a chance. He trusted his gut when it came to patients, but not with his personal life, because with Josh and Tracy his gut was one big knot of apprehension.

Three

Tracy’s heart quickened when Cort’s truck pulled into the driveway that evening.

Libby had dropped by earlier to soak up all the news about Cort and Josh, and she’d stayed long enough to fill Tracy’s mind with illicit suggestions regarding ways to convince her new tenant to stay in Texas. Seduce him, she’d said.

Tracy rolled her eyes. As if she’d know how to seduce anybody.

“Show him what he’s giving up by going back to Duke. It’s your last chance to hook the man of your dreams,” Libby had insisted.

Tracy shook her head. She would never deliberately quash someone’s dream. If Cort wanted to be a surgeon, then he ought to be a surgeon. He was her tenant. She was his nanny. She’d do best to remember that, but that didn’t mean she didn’t secretly wish she could be as bold as Libby suggested.

“Daddy’s home, sport.” Cort looked scrumptious in his dark suit and blinding-white shirt.

Josh took one look through the glass storm door at the man striding up the walk and buried his face in her neck. Cort witnessed the maneuver, and his confident stride faltered. Resignation settled over his features.

Tracy’s heart went out to him. She vowed to do whatever she could to bring father and son together. Plastering a smile on her face, she pushed open the door. “How was your day?”

“Not bad.” Satisfaction filled his voice. He lifted a hand toward Josh’s back, but then dropped it before making contact. “How about here?”